Principles of siphonic roof drainage systems

Marc Buitenhuis

Hydraulic research engineer Akatherm International BV, Panningen, The Netherlands

17-08-2008



Abstract

In this article it has been illustrated that a siphonic roof drainage system with a single roof outlet is reasonably well
understood. The governing equations are presented.
The basic design of the system can be determined using single phase flow theory assuming full bore flow of the
system.
The start up and two phase flow functioning of the system are more complex.
In a multiple roof outlet siphonic system the interaction between the roof outlets makes it very complex and only skilled
people can design a well functioning system.





1. Introduction

For drainage of large roof areas a siphonic system is a
well acknowledged cost saving solution. The principle
of expelling air from the system means that only water
is being transported at high speed making use of the
suction pressure created behind the full bore water
column. The high speed full bore flow makes smaller
pipe dimensions than in conventional systems possible.
Also the elimination of multiple downpipes and a lot of
piping in the groundwork mean a large cost saving and
more architectural freedom for the building design.
The only disadvantage is that one has to have a better
technical background to be able to properly design a
siphonic system. A multiple roof outlet siphonic system
is a complex system that needs to be carefully
optimized to function properly.
In this article the theory of a single roof outlet siphonic
roof drainage will be explained to give a basis for the
principles of a multiple roof outlet system.


2. Principle of syphonic roof drainage

The principle in syphonic roof drainage is the full bore
flow of the system. One thus has to obtain and
maintain a full bore flow for optimal functioning of the
system.
The full bore flow is initiated by the hydraulic jump (see
illustration 1) at the entrance of the horizontal part of
tail pipe or collector pipe of the system. The shape of
the hydraulic jump depends on 2 parameters:

1. the velocity of the flow streaming into the
horizontal pipe
2. the resistance of the pipe beyond the entrance of
the collector pipe















Illustration 1. Forming of the hydraulic jump at start up of
siphonic roof drainage system

The principle can be compared to the stream of
vehicles on highways or race tracks. Vehicles can
accelerate optimally on roads that are straight and
keep on being straight for miles. As soon as there is a
curve in the road the vehicles have to slow down.
When the first vehicle decelerates the one behind him


has to decelerate also and the distance between the
vehicles is decreasing. This is very often the moment for
accidents to happen: there is an increasing chance for
collision. Exactly this is the case for fluid particles in a
stream. When particles are redirected from the vertical
downfall to horizontal flow the fluid is decelerated. As
fluid particles have no brakes they will collide and the
only way they can go is up, creating height and thus a
hydraulic jump. The above explains 2 things: first of all
why an increasing length of vertical tail pipe leads to
earlier priming, second why an increasing resistance in
the collector pipe leads to this same result.
An increasing length of tail pipe leads to more time to
accelerate the fluid coming from the roof, thus to
higher velocities in the bend to the horizontal pipe. This
will lead to a higher hydraulic jump when the flow is
decelerated in the horizontal pipe.
Also the more the flow is decelerated in the horizontal
pipe, thus the higher the resistance downstream of the
bend, the higher the hydraulic jump will be.
The higher the hydraulic jump is the earlier the full pipe
diameter will be closed off by water and priming will
start.
When the horizontal pipe is (slightly) inclined the water
will run off easier and thus the hydraulic jump will be
less pronounced, delaying the onset to priming of the
system.


3. Theoretical background

In fluid dynamics the Navier-Stokes equations are the
general form of the momentum equations that account
for fluid motion and are written as:
V p g
Dt
V D
r
r
r
2
+ =

For incompressible inviscid flow they become:
p g
Dt
V D
=
r
r

and are known in this form as Eulers equations.
The headloss H is defined as H =
g
p

. Substituting
this in the above Eulers equations and dividing by
gives:
H g g
Dt
V D
=
r
r

In streamline coordinates along the x-axis and taking
the z-direction the direction of gravity:
x
H
g g
H g z g
x
V
V
t
V
Dt
V D
x
x
x

= =

=
sin
r

With a constant diameter of the pipe and thus constant
cross section, A, this can be further rewritten to:
x
H
g A g A
H g A z g A
x
Q
A
Q
t
Q
Dt
Q D

= =

=
sin
r


with the angle between the streamline x and the
direction perpendicular to the gravity ( positive when
the streamline ascends).
For a descending collector pipe the angle thus is
negative, the term with this parameter thus positive,
driving the speed in the collector pipe up and thus
making it decelerate less, producing a less pronounced
hydraulic jump and thus delaying priming (full bore
flow) in the system.

In a steady incompressible inviscid full bore flow
integration of Eulers equations over a streamline gives
the well known Bernoulli equation:
const
V
gz
p
= + +
2
2

This equation is often referred to to easily explain the
principle of siphonic roof drainage.

The head loss in pipe systems consists of losses due to
the friction coefficient of the pipe walls, losses due to
the fittings (bends, knees, elbows and the roof outlet)
and losses due to the additional roughness caused by
welding of pipes and fittings. The head loss due to
friction along the pipe walls can be described by the
equation:
2
2
x
V
D
L
f H =
with f the friction factor. For the determination of the
friction factor the
Colebrook-White equation is most widely applied:

+ =
f D
k
f
s
Re
51 . 2
7 . 3
log 25 . 0
1

with k
s
the equivalent sand grain roughness. A good
estimation for f is:
2
9 . 0 0
Re
74 . 5
7 . 3
log 25 . 0

+ =
D
k
f
s



The head losses of fittings and roof outlets can be
approximated in a similar way by:
2 2
2 2
x e x
V
D
L
f
V
H = =
with a coefficient specific for each fitting of a certain
diameter and L
e
an equivalent length of pipe.











4. Conclusions

In this article it has been illustrated that a siphonic roof
drainage system with a single roof outlet is reasonably
well understood. The governing equations are
presented.
The basic design of the system can be determined
using single phase flow theory assuming full bore flow
of the system.
The start up and two phase flow functioning of the
system are more complex.
In a multiple roof outlet siphonic system the interaction
between the roof outlets makes it very complex and
only skilled people can design a well functioning
system.








5. References

1. Robert W. Fox, Alan T. McDonald, Introduction to fluid mechanics, third edition, 1985, School of Mechanical
Engineering Purdue University, John Wiley & Sons
2. Scott Arthur, John A. Swaffield, Siphonic roof drainage: current understanding, 2001, Water research group,
Department of civil and offshore engineering, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburg, Scotland (UK)
3. G.B. Wright, S. Arthur, J.A. Swaffield, Numerical simulation of the dynamic operation of multi-outlet siphonic
roof drainage systems, 2005, Drainage and water supply research group, School of the build environment,
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburg, Scotland (UK)
4. Scott Arthur, The priming focused design of siphonic roof drainage, drainage research group, School of the
built environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburg, Scotland (UK)
5. S. Arthur, G.B. Wright, Siphonic roof drainage systems priming focused design, 2006, School of the built
environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburg, Scotland (UK)
6. S. Arthur, J.A. Swaffield, Siphonic roof drainage system analysis utilizing unsteady flow theory, 2000,
Department of building engineering and surveying, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburg, Scotland (UK)